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Mary Katherine Holloway of Decatur will represent Walker County at the Miss Alabama Pageant that will be held June 7-10 at Samford University’s Wright Center in Birmingham.

Holloway is the 23-year-old daughter of Marlon and Gena Holloway of Decatur. She is a graduate of the University of North Alabama with a degree in elementary education.

This will be Holloway’s second year to participate in the Miss Alabama Pageant. She will perform a dance, “You Raise Me Up,” during the talent competition. She will also compete in swimsuit, onstage question, evening wear competitions and will participate in a private interview with a panel of five judges.

During the interview portion of the competition, Holloway looks forward to discussing her personal platform, ‘The R Word: Spread the Word to End the Word.’

“My older brother, Grant, was born with an intellectual disability,” she said. “As I grew older, I saw the hurtful impact the casual use of the word ‘retard’ had on both my brother and my family. It is my mission to spread the word ‘retard’ and its correct meaning in order to end its use in casual conversation. I encourage you to take the pledge to spread the word to end the word.”

The Miss America Organization, a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, is the nation’s leading advocate for women’s education and the largest provider of scholarship assistance to young women in the United States, awarding millions of dollars annually.

The Miss America Organization is comprised of 52 licensed organizations, including all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Miss America contestants contribute tens of thousands of community service hours annually and have raised more than $15 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Miss America scholarships since 2007.

The Miss America Foundation is ranked by TheBest- Colleges.org as number one out of the 10 Biggest Scholarship Providers in the World.

Preliminary competitions will be held on June 7-9 at 7 p.m., with the final competition Saturday, June 10, at 7 p.m. Reserved seat tickets are on sale now and may be ordered by calling the Miss Alabama Pageant office at 205-871-6276.